Given the show’s nerdy, geeky, and scientific theme, it’s no surprise that over its long life, The Big Bang Theory has featured a variety of celebrities, athletes, actors, and scientists as guest stars. Some celebrity cameos were more memorable than others as they featured big names like Stephen Hawking, Stan Lee and Mark Hamill, but there were also a handful of fun but overshadowed celebrity appearances that most viewers and fans seemed to have forgotten.
While not as well known, these celebrity appearances were still just as fun and high profile as any of the others on the show.
10 Joe Manganiello, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a bunch of celebrities played D&D
In the Season 12 episode “The D&D Vortex,” Wil Wheaton hosts a D&D game night with Kevin Smith, William Shatner, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Joe Manganiello. Initially Stuart was also involved but quit, prompting Leonard to take his place in the group. But after telling the gang, Leonard gets kicked out. Wil Wheaton then invites all the girls to D&D night.
Amy talks to Joe, tells him how much she enjoyed him in Magic Mike, and scares him. Bernadette tells Kareem that she and her father watched Kareem win back-to-back basketball championships, to which Kareem tells her that he saw her sniffing Joe’s hair. What some may not know, Manganiello is actually an avid Dungeons and Dragons fan.
9 Steven Yeun’s character warned Leonard about Sheldon
In a flashback from Season 3 “The Staircase Implementation,” a young and naïve Leonard encounters a deranged person stepping out of an elevator in his future apartment building. The person, played by Steven Yeun and apparently named Sebastian, warns Leonard to stay away from the newly opened room for rent.
Later in the episode, when Leonard sees his room for the first time, the words “Die Sheldon Die” are written on the walls in red; It has been heavily implied that Yeun’s character was the one who wrote it. What made Yeun’s performance notable was that this cameo happened before the premiere of The Walking Dead, so he was a relatively unknown actor at the time. In addition, this was also one of Yeun’s earliest appearances on a television show.
8th Courtney Ford played an attractive comic artist that Leonard meets at the comic store
While dating Priya, Leonard meets an attractive comic artist named Alice, played by Courtney Ford, at the comic book store. After a few passionate kisses, he breaks it all off and reveals to Alice that he has been cheating on his girlfriend with her.
Ford was no stranger to the comic world as she was and is married to Brandon Routh who played Superman in Superman Returns. Ford and Routh later appeared in The Legends of Tomorrow as Ray Palmer and Nora Darhk.
7 Teller (of the duo Penn & Teller) played Amy’s father
The normally taciturn Teller of magic and entertainment duo Penn & Teller played Mr. Fowler, Amy’s father, for three episodes. He first appeared at Amy and Sheldon’s wedding in The Bow Tie Asymmetry, then again in The Conjugal Configuration, and finally in The Consummation Deviation where he is confused by Howard’s magic tricks.
Like Leonard, Leonard’s father and Raj’s father, Larry Fowler is often overshadowed by his more dominant wife, played by Kathy Bates, and is mired in a loveless marriage. Due to his fascination with Howard’s magic tricks, he has a stronger connection to Howard than to Sheldon, a nod to Bernadette’s father having a stronger bond with Sheldon than his son-in-law.
6 Howie Mandel arrived at the airport with Howard
Howard finally returned home from space in Season 6 of The Re-Entry Minimization, where he was greeted by Bernadette and what he believed to be a large crowd of fans chanting his name “Howie”. In reality, Howard was standing next to Howie Mandel, another passenger on his plane from Houston. Mandel then assured Howard that the paparazzi were there to see him and said, “I think they’re here for me, Ringo.” Mandel exits the airport expressing disbelief that Howard was an astronaut, something which Howard apparently boasted about on the plane.
5 Brent Spiner burned a few bridges with Sheldon
In Season 5 of The Russian Rocket Reaction, Sheldon decides to attend Wil Wheaton’s house party with Raj and Leonard. Wheaton surprises Sheldon with an autographed original Wesley Crusher action figure in Mint-in-Package, thereby breaking up the dispute between the two.
Brent Spiner then appears in the middle of a warm hug between Wheaton and Sheldon and opens the action figure, immediately putting him on Sheldon’s enemy list. Raj and Leonard later negotiate with Spiner for some autographed Data action figures. While it was a nice joke, the show never developed the conflict between Sheldon and Spiner.
4 Charlie Sheen was unimpressed by Raj’s performance
Raj was listed as one of People Magazine’s 30 Visionaries Under 30 To Watch in Season 2 of The Griffin Equivalency. After rejoicing, getting drunk, and chasing his friends away at the Cheesecake Factory, he brags to a guest at another table. The patron, Charlie Sheen, turns and tells Raj to call him when he’s on the cover.
In hindsight, the cameo was accidental, unexpected, and entirely ironic. At the time, Sheen was still on Two and a Half Men, another Chuck Lorre show, but three years later he parted ways with the series and network over an insane tirade against Lorre.
3 Billy Bob Thornton was one of Penny’s creepy sales customers
In Season 8’s “The Misinterpretation Agitation,” Billy Bob Thornton played Dr. Oliver Lorvis, a creepy celebrity urologist who misinterpreted Penny’s sales pitch as flirting. He shows up at Penny’s apartment with flowers, only to be greeted and turned away by Leonard and the gang.
Sheldon feels sorry for him and invites Dr. Lorvis into the apartment and they soon bond over common interests. Finally, Lorvis invites the gang to check out his collection of movie memorabilia, which included notable items such as Clooney Batman’s suit, Magneto’s helmet, a RoboCop statue, various classic arcade cabinets, as well as a variety of other collectibles. A fun tidbit about the character was that he was supposed to be a combination of all nerds and shared certain traits of Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, Raj, and Stuart.
2 Basketball player Rick Fox played one of Bernadette’s ex-boyfriends
At a conference in Big Sur in season 4’s “The Love Car Displacement,” Bernadette and Howard meet one of Bernadette’s ex-boyfriends, played by Rick Fox. This ex, Glenn, was not just an ex-lover but, to Howard’s dismay, Bernadette’s former professor. Howard was quickly intimidated by Glenn’s good looks, charm and height (6′ 7″), leading to Howard projecting his insecurities onto Bernadette.
For those who don’t know, Rick Fox is a retired basketball player who played small forward for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. Although Fox is a professional athlete, he was also the founder of Echo Fox, the esports organization/team.
1 Eric André denies Sheldon and the gang entry to a theater
Sheldon and the rest of the gang decide to camp outside a movie theater to see a special screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark with an additional 21 seconds of unseen footage in Season 4 “The 21-Second Excitation.” In the episode, Eric André plays Joey, an employee at the theater tasked with managing the camping crowd outside.
When Wil Wheaton and his entourage show up, Joey has them cut the line, filling the theater and preventing the gang from seeing Indiana Jones and infuriating Sheldon. After a colorful exchange with Joey, Sheldon decides to steal the footage.
About the author
William Pham
(56 published articles)
William Pham is a freelance writer currently working at CBR as an organic list writer. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in May 2021 with a degree in philosophy and mathematics. Pham was previously a reporter for his university newspaper and wants to expand his writing career by writing about what he has loved since childhood….comics and superheroes. He’s been a fan of Marvel and DC comics since he was five and hopes to one day break into the comic book industry. In his free time, he enjoys reading comics and watching random people eat on the internet. If you have thoughts, comments, or story ideas for William, email him at [email protected]
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